The Trade Organisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed in parliament on Thursday aiming to bring some changes in the existing law of 2022.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi moved the bill and it was passed by voice vote.
As per the proposed law, in case of any problem in holding the election, the existing committee of any trade organisation can continue its operations for one year after the expiry of its tenure in line with the draft law.
But now the committee can run operations for six months after the expiry of its tenure in such circumstances as per the existing law.
During the discussion of the bill, Tipu Munshi came under fire in the House for his failure to tackle the prices of essential items.
Participating in the discussion of the bill, Gonoforum MP Mukabbir Khan said the commerce minister is a businessman and he understands business well.
“He denied the existence of the syndicate many times in parliament. When the people started saying that the commerce minister was the owner of the syndicate, he started telling the truth. He [commerce minister] said the syndicate cannot be touched.”
Mukabbir said the prime minister is giving important advice to break the syndicate like keeping raw chilli dry, boiling eggs and keeping them in the fridge.
“We would have benefited greatly if we had received these suggestions earlier. Because when the thief escapes, intelligence increases.”
Jatiya Party MP Shamim Haider Patwari said common people are suffering due to the uncontrolled price spiral. “Now is the time to protect the poor. This ministry can give things to people at cheaper prices. This can bring equilibrium in the market.”
Shamim said due to the syndicate, the prices of goods increased.
Jatiya Party MP Roshan Ara Mannan demanded stern action against the traders behind the price spiral of essential commodities.
Jatiya Party MP Hafiz Uddin said the commerce minister understands business very well as well as the syndicate. “That is why he said that if anyone touches the syndicate, that person’s hands will be burned.”
Another Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman said he does not know why the commerce minister could not take punitive measures against the syndicate.
In response to the opposition's criticism, Tipu Munshi said the issues of commodity prices and syndicates have come up in the discussion.
“It has been said that I myself am the leader of a syndicate. I am a businessman…I needed to say many times in this parliament that I had been in politics long before I became a businessman. I started business 20 years after I started politics,” he said.
The minister said that if doing business is a crime, then he is guilty of that crime.
Referring to the increase in prices due to global factors and failure to fix the prices of some products, Tipu said the products produced in the country also sometimes increase. “I do not hesitate to admit that sometimes businessmen suddenly take advantage.”
Regarding the price spiral, he said that free market economy is a reality.
He mentioned that his ministry has fixed prices of onions and potatoes after a discussion with the agriculture ministry.
“We will strictly control that. We are constantly trying. But it is also a reality that businessmen are trying to take advantage. The prime minister is investigating everything.”
